Monday, September 29, 2008

Authoria to be bought by Bedford Funding for $63M

By Mass High Tech Staff

Talent management software firm Authoria Inc. will be purchased by private equity firm Bedford Funding of White Plains, NY, for $63.1 million, company officials report.

Bedford Funding will also make an $8 million investment in Waltham-based Authoria, to provide working capital so the company can expand operations and speed up its growth. Tod Loofbourrow, founder of Authoria and a Mass High Tech All-Star in 2000, will stay on as Authoria’s CEO.

In October of 2007, Authoria took in its last funding round, worth $22.5 million, which brought the company to more than $100 million in venture backing. At the same time, it named tech firm veteran Stephen Lifshatz as CFO. Lifshatz had previously served as CFO of Lionbridge Technologies Inc. and prior that, Marcam Corp. He oversaw the finances of both companies through to an initial public offering, leading to speculation that Authoria was headed for some form of exit as well.

Authoria recently reported 93-percent growth in bookings in the second quarter of 2008 over the same quarter in the previous year. The company’s software is intended to enhance the way companies recruit, develop, compensate, retain and engage employees. Authoria counts more than 300 large organizations as customers, including Aetna, Citrix Systems, Alcon and Boeing.

Bedford Funding, with $800 million in available capital, specializes in investments in the technology sector, with an initial focus on the software and IT services.